For your eyes only: James Bond theme songs

Ever since James Bond first strolled onto the silver screen as viewed through an assassin's gun barrel at the beginning of "Dr. No," music has been a vital part of the 007 experience. Jjoin us for a look back at the music of James Bond and the stars who've sung his anthems.

The first two James Bond movies didn't have traditional "theme songs" like we associate with the movie franchise today. But the first Bond movie, 1967's "Dr. No," did feature the "James Bond Theme" as written by Monty Norman and performed by John Barry and his orchestra, a song that has been featured in all 23 films to this point. The opening credits to "Dr. No" also featured two other pieces of music: an untitled bongo interlude and a Calypso-flavored rendition of "Three Blind Mice," titled "Kingston Calypso."

The second James Bond movie, 1963's "From Russia with Love," featured a new instrumental version of the main theme over the opening credits and a vocal version by English singer Matt Monro at the end of the film.

One of the most memorable parts of 1964's "Goldfinger" was the theme song of the same name sung by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey. It was the start of a tradition of having a standalone theme song for each film. The song also provide to be hugely popular, becoming a top 10 hit in the United States.

In 1965, Tom Jones provided the theme song for "Thunderball." The song, composed by John Barry and Don Black, would reach No. 35 on the U.K. charts and No. 25 on the U.S. charts.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969 featured a popular orchestral theme of the same name composed, once again, by John Barry, who was also responsible for composing 11 Bond soundtracks. The movie, George Lazenby's first and only time out as James Bond, also featured a secondary theme, Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World."

With Sean Connery returning for one final Bond film, Bassey also returned for a second time in 1971 for "Diamonds Are Forever," singing the theme song of the same title. The song proved to not be as popular as "Goldfinger," peaking only at No. 38 on the U.K. charts and No. 57 on the U.S. charts.

The James Bond franchise may have lost its star in Sean Connery with 1973's "Live and Let Die," with Roger Moore taking over the role, but it gained more star power in turning to Paul McCartney and Wings for the movie's theme song. The song would become the first Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and reached No. 2 as a U.S. single and No. 7 on the U.K. charts.United Artists

Scottish singer Lulu, mostly known for the song "To Sir, with Love" from the film of the same name, took over theme song duties for 1974's "The Man with the Golden Gun."

Carly Simon's performance of Marvin Hamlisch's (music) and Carole Bayer Sager's (lyrics) "Nobody Does It Better" from 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me" received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. The song not only matched McCartney's Oscar nomination, but also the peak chart positions of his theme song, topping out at No. 2 as a U.S. single and No. 7 on the U.K. charts.

Bassey returned for a third and final time for the theme song to 1979's "Moonraker."

Sheena Easton's performance of Bill Conti's "For Your Eyes Only" from the 1981 movie of the same name, was the third and last James Bond theme song, as of 2012, to earn an Academy Award nomination. The song also proved popular with music fans, reaching No. 8 as a U.K. single and climbing to No. 4 in the United States.

In 1983, Rita Coolidge took a turn providing a Bond theme song, singing "All Time High" for "Octopussy," Moore's last turn as the famous spy.

Duran Duran and John Barry's "A View To A Kill" from the 1985 movie of the same name topped the singles charts in the United States, becoming the only Bond theme to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song nearly made it to the top in the United Kingdom as well, peaking at No. 2.

Two years after their 1985 debut with the No. 1 hit song "Take on Me," Norwegian pop band A-ha sung the theme song for the 1987 James Bond movie "The Living Daylights." While the song wasn't released as a single in the U.S., it did make it to No. 5 in the United Kingdom.

While producers had favored contemporary pop stars throughout the 1980s, they turned to Gladys Knight for the theme song to 1989's "Licence to Kill," the last appearance of Timothy Dalton as James Bond.

When Pierce Brosnan took over for Dalton with 1995's "GoldenEye," Tina Turner, then seeing a career resurgence thanks to the biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It," tackled the movie's theme song of the same name. The song, written by U2's Bono and The Edge, would reach No. 10 on the U.K. charts.

In 1997, Sheryl Crow provided the theme song to "Tomorrow Never Dies." While the song as not released as a single in the United States, it would reach No. 12 in the U.K.

In 2002, none other than pop star Madonna stepped up to sing the theme song to "Die Another Day." The song, which she co-wrote with Paris-based record producer and songwriter Mirwais Ahmadzaï, was a smashing success, reaching No. 3 in the United Kingdom while topping out at No. 8 in the United States.

With Daniel Craig stepping into the role of James Bond in 2006's "Casino Royale," Chris Cornell, lead singer for hard rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, provided the movie's theme song, "You Know My Name." The song failed to impress in the United States, reaching only No. 79 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but peaked at No. 7 in the United Kingdom.

Jack White of the White Stripes and Alicia Keys teamed up for 2008's "Another Way to Die," the theme song to "Quantum of Solace." The song, which was written and produced by White, was the first duet among the Bond theme songs.

British singing sensation Adele provided the theme song to the newest James Bond film, "Skyfall." The song, written by Adele and producer Paul Epworth, was released on Oct. 5, 2012, at 0:07 British Summer Time as part of "Global James Bond Day," celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of "Dr. No." The song entered the U.K. singles chart at No. 4 and rose to No. 2 in its second week, selling a total of 176,000 copies. It also entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 8, Adele's first song to debut in the Top 10, selling 261,000 copies in the United States in its first three days.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.